Courses

We're sorry but this course is now FULL: please have a look at our next Sydney PDC here or our next on-farm PDC here.

Join well-known teacher, author, aid worker and permaculture legend Rosemary Morrow, Milkwood Permaculture's Nick Ritar and other special guests for an amazing two weeks of permaculture theory, practical workshops and intensive design exercises exploring permaculture at Milkwood Farm.

A Milkwood Permaculture Design Certificate provides an exceptional grounding in Permaculture design and theory. Our PDC graduates leave our courses ready to design and implement permaculture principles into a wide range of scenarios; from urban permaculture systems to small farms, suburban blocks and overseas aid projects.

The class size for this course is strictly limited to 24 students to ensure effective learning outcomes for everyone, and students emerge as accredited Permaculture Designers.

Permaculture is set of principles that result in sustainable and productive systems. Systems for living, architecture, food production, land management and community. No chemicals and no excuses. Just good, thoughtful, innovative and effective design for the needs of our species.

"Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple"
Bill Mollison (co-originator of the Permaculture concept)

Why take this Permaculture Design Certificate Course?

Milkwood Permaculture provides the PDC course in an intensive residential format, with small class sizes for each course. This means more time for questions, discussion, demonstration and for lots of hands-on practical sessions.

This PDC will be taught in combination within both a classroom and a living, breathing permaculture system; incorporating design exercises and practical workshops.

Examples of designing for energy conservation, food production systems, nutrient cycling, holding water in the landscape and community strategies for resilience will be addressed with a combination of rural, urban and community-scale examples. All workshops during the course will also focus on Permaculture in practice and the skills you acquire will translate to any environment.

"I have done several permaculture courses now and I would say that Nick Ritar of Milkwood is definitely the best and most dynamic permaculture teacher I've experienced. His inclusive style of teaching and his effective design coaching, combined with his extensive knowledge and experience, has activated me towards becoming a permaculture designer. Thanks again, Milkwood." - Paul Jordan, Project Officer + budding Permaculture Designer

Our PDC is based on the curriculum set out by the Permaculture Institute, and uses Bill Mollison's "Permaculture: A Designers Manual" as its central text. We also blend into this curriculum new material from a range of other world-leading thinkers and activators on subjects like transition, food security, regenerative agriculture, urban water harvesting and many more.

This course is FarmReady approved. Farmers, primary producers, land managers and their families may be eligible for a full reimbursement of the costs for this workshop, including travel and accommodation. Go to our FarmReady page to see if you're eligible. The FarmReady course number for this course is: FRTC0409

Sessions will include the following:

• 

  Permaculture principles and ethics
• Permaculture design for urban and rural situations
• Creating a balanced soil food web
• Pattern Understanding
• Designing water into landscape (or streetscape)
• Passive water harvesting and drought-proofing
• Intensive food and animal systems
• Orchard and food forest design
• System planning + intergration
• Design for different biospheres: tropics / drylands / cool climates
• Appropriate technologies for future communities
• Trees, water and energy cycling
• Strategies for building healthy, resilient communities
• Farm walks and explaination of Milkwood's permaculture system

This PDC accreditation can lead to further training, teaching, international aid work, local design work or just implementation of Permaculture principles within your own life and surrounds, depending on your own personal trajectory.

About the teachers:

Rosemary Morrow is known and revered world-wide for her pragmatic and effective approach to creating Permaculture systems across an incredibly broad range of environments. Rosemary has successfully implemented community-scale Permaculture systems in such diverse bioshperes as Uganda, Somalia, Thailand, the Middle East, Bhutan, Australia and northern Europe, to name but a few. Her knowledge on how to create abundance, food security and successful sustainable farming models, no matter what the country, is perhaps unparalleled in permaculture education today. Rosemary's full profile.

Nick Ritar is Milkwood Permaculture's primary educator and consultant. Nick is passionate about permaculture education, keyline design, soil, pattern literacy and regenerative agriculture. He divides his time between extensive permaculture teaching, permaculture consultancy, writing and farming in central western NSW. Nick's full profile.

Included in your course fee:

The Milkwood Permaculture PDC course fee is all-inclusive for the duration of your stay at Milkwood Farm, including all meals and accommodation on-site. Meals are organic country cooking with omnivore or vegetarian options, with a high ratio of yummy organic produce coming from Milkwood Farm itself. See our Staying at Milkwood page for full info on accommodation and facilities.

We're sorry but this course is now FULL: please have a look at our next Sydney PDC here or our next on-farm PDC here.